Fryday expects response after Welsh loss

By Mark Stevens
25/3/23

Ireland captain Nichola Fryday said lessons would be learnt in the wake of her side’s comprehensive 31-5 Six Nations Championship defeat to Wales at the Cardiff Arms Park.

On a day to forget for Fryday and her Irish team-mates, the Exeter Chiefs lock was already looking to the future as she assessed her side’s performance in the Welsh capital.

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed,” said Fryday, who scored Ireland’s consolation score. “That said, we have to pick ourselves up quickly as we have a huge game against France next week. We knew Wales would come out firing and they capitalised on our errors. That allowed them to build into the game and it was tough for us.

“Second half, we were much better, a lot stronger, and we showed what we are about. We’ll take pride form that, but next week is going to be a big week for us to fix those wrongs and make sure we hit the ground running.”

Wales - who included Exeter’s Abbie Fleming in their starting line-up - ran in four tries in a dominant first half, scoring through Alex Callender, Keira Bevan, Sioned Harries and skipper Hannah Jones. Bevan also added three conversions to seal the victory for Ioan Cunningham’s side.